Pages

Wednesday, 19 August 2009

Lindow Man

I saw Lindow Man yesterday. Strangely disappointing experience. I can remember the initial excitement when he was found way back in 1984 in the bog between Cheshire and Manchester and read all I could about him. Over the intervening years I'd forgotten his lower half had been lost in the peat extraction process before they realised what they'd found, and found it odd to look at only his head, torso and lower shinbone with foot still attached. There seems to be only one set of photographs of him, and the originals are amazingly detailed. In reality, in his little glass case set out on a bed of what look like fibreglass chips to resemble the dark brown bog, it is hard to see him at all, since the lighting is so low to preserve him. He was well and truly killed way back in the Iron Age. Holes in his skull, a broken neck, a ligature still around his neck, broken ribs...when offered the choice of death: sacrifice, execution or murder, most people threw their chips into the murder jar. I found it sad, but if anyone wants to know more, simply Google Lindow Man at the BM.

No comments:

About Jen

I write historical romances and historical novels variously set in Scotland, Dublin or the north of England where I have lived all my life. With so many wonderful periods of history to choose from I don't stick to one; from Vikings to Victorians, I love them all!

I'm rarely without a camera in my pocket and delight in displaying the pics on my blog. The beautiful Tyne Valley around Hexham features heavily, as do my holiday haunts and I can't ignore my beautifu Dalnatian dog, Tim.